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Fifteen nations claim medals at the 69th edition of the Strandja International Boxing Tournament in Sofia

February 26, 2018

Bulgaria’s capital Sofia has hosted the Strandja International Boxing Tournament across seven days of exciting boxing action. The prestigious Strandja tournament has become an unmissable event for the top boxing nations around the globe in its 69 years of existence.

A total number of 93 women and 143 men representing 30 countries took part in the competition which welcomed for the first-time boxers from Kyrgyzstan and Singapore in between some of the classic boxing powerhouses as USA, China, Russia, Kazakhstan or Brazil.

The women’s draws have been dominated by the host nation Bulgaria and China both clinching four gold medals including the ones from Bulgaria’s star Stanimira Petrova in 57kg and China’s Rio 2016 bronze medalist Li Qian (75kg). The remaining gold medals were earned by Finland’s Mira Potkonen (60kg) and Russia’s Anna Ivanova (81+kg).

On the men’s side, Bulgaria, India and Ukraine earned two gold medals each showing the strength of their teams at this stage of the year. But the sensation of the tournament came with the performance of the youngest boxer in the USA squad, Keyshawn Davis, who, at only 19 years old, was able to top the podium at the lightweight category (60kg). Kazakhstan and Russia completed the gold medals set in Sofia.